Judge says U.S. must return rare coins to Phila. family

A judge in Philadelphia has ruled that the federal government must return 10 extremely rare gold coins to the family of a late Center City jeweler or outline its case for keeping them in a forfeiture filing.

U.S. District Judge Legrome Davis issued the ruling Tuesday in the case of the 10 1933 "double eagle" gold coins, which experts say could fetch millions at auction. The lawyer representing the family said the coins are thought to be the most valuable gold coins in the world.

The federal government seized the coins in 2004 when the daughter and grandsons of the late jeweler Israel Switt brought them to the U.S. Mint to be authenticated.

Joan Langbord and her sons Roy and David contended in a court filing that the seizure was illegal.

The one-ounce coins, each with a face value of $20, were among 445,000 that were minted but never circulated after the United States went off the gold standard in 1933. The entire supply - with the exception of these 10 coins and 10 others known to exist - was melted into bullion.

"The Langbord family reserved all their rights to the coin, and the government said it was government property stolen in the 1930s from the U.S. Mint and therefore they had a right to take it," said the family's attorney, Barry Berke.

"The judge said what the government did was a violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments," Berke said.

Michael White, a spokesman for the Mint, declined to comment yesterday because the case is still being litigated.

"We're very pleased with the ruling. We hope and expect that the Langbord family will recover their property," Berke said. "What we don't know is whether that will happen immediately or after a forfeiture proceeding."

According the lawsuit, Joan Langbord, who in her 80s continues to run her father's business, I Switt, on South Eighth Street, found the coins while inspecting a bank safety deposit box in 2003. Israel Switt died in 1990.

The family did not say how Israel Switt, who collected coins, obtained the double eagles.

The Landbords' suit noted that in the previous seizure of another 1933 double eagle, the government split the proceeds with the owner after the coin sold for a record $7.59 million at a 2002 auction.

The suit also noted that the government allowed King Farouk of Egypt to own and export a 1933 double eagle in 1944 without questioning how it came into circulation.